It’s official—AbbVie dumps Rova-T after another lung cancer fail
AbbVie’s Rova-T has failed yet another lung cancer trial, this time as a frontline treatment. But AbbVie didn’t regroup and point to its Rova-T programs in other treatment settings. It axed the drug, once and for all.
The Big Pharma picked up Rova-T, a.k.a. Rovalpituzumab tesirine, in its $5.8 billion buyout of Stemcentrx in 2016. At the time, the drug was in a phase 2 study aimed at a quick FDA nod with the potential to net another $4 billion for Stemcentrx in milestone payments.
Rova-T’s promise lay in targeting delta-like protein 3 (DLL3), which is expressed in more than 80% of tumors in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The antibody-drug conjugate is designed to deliver a cytotoxic payload directly to DLL3-expressing cancer cells, while sparing healthy cells and reducing side effects. It carried hope for SCLC patients, who have few treatments outside of surgery and chemotherapy.
The Big Pharma picked up Rova-T, a.k.a. Rovalpituzumab tesirine, in its $5.8 billion buyout of Stemcentrx in 2016. At the time, the drug was in a phase 2 study aimed at a quick FDA nod with the potential to net another $4 billion for Stemcentrx in milestone payments.
Rova-T’s promise lay in targeting delta-like protein 3 (DLL3), which is expressed in more than 80% of tumors in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The antibody-drug conjugate is designed to deliver a cytotoxic payload directly to DLL3-expressing cancer cells, while sparing healthy cells and reducing side effects. It carried hope for SCLC patients, who have few treatments outside of surgery and chemotherapy.
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